bali: harvest moon

in the village of lodtunduh is a cluster of villas that look out onto the endless rice paddies. 

we stayed at the harvest moon villa...incredible, serene, relaxing, and the perfect backdrop to this fun trip with matt and belize.

the villa was both indoor and outdoor, including this bath tub in its own koi pond. sage loved it.

at night, the boys would fill it with hot water and we had our own hot tub.

we waded through the rice paddies on skinny little trails and watched the kids come parading out with their kites. apparently, it was excellent kite flying weather while we were in bali because the skies were constantly filled with colorful kites.

breakfast was made in our villa every morning by a sweet crew of people who seriously never stopped smiling. such happy people! banana pancakes, scrambled eggs, toast, fresh tropical fruit, and papaya, watermelon, pineapple smoothies.

our last night in ubud, we had a cooking class at our villa with wayan suriani.

 she laughed at how outgoing we were, and giggled incessantly when nate messed up the balinese pancake he was in charge of flipping.

the best dish we made was mie goreng. those noodles melted in my mouth.

 

these green crepe-like pancakes are colored with crushed duan sugi and pandan leaves, then filled with a mixture of toasted coconut, cinnamon, and brown sugar. uhhh yum. 

belize was the master scribe and carefully wrote down each recipe. 

now if only i knew where to pick pandan leaves in singapore...

after the women cleaned up the kitchen, they chopped up banana leaves and cooked an egg. they quickly prepared twenty offerings for the gods. wayan told us that her mother said to always bless the kitchens she cooked in. belize and i went with the sweet women to the villa temple, and all around the kitchen and property as they placed these offerings to bless and protect. 

staying at harvest moon made all the difference in our trip. we'd definitely recommend it!